Wrangell Public Schools

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School Closure

Health Mandate 013 – K-12 Public and Private Schools

The statewide school closure of all K-12 public and private schools is being extended from May 1, 2020 to the end of the 2019-2020 school year. Despite the need to extend school building closures, student learning will continue, per each school district’s individual plan, to provide distance-delivered educational services to students.

It is recognized that this difficult decision ends the school year with students physically separated from their teachers. Incident Command will reconvene later this month to consider whether the state’s health outlook will safely allow for small groups of students to meet with their teachers in-person for final student conferences before the end of the school year. This option, if allowed, will be dependent upon the coordination of each school district.

As school districts contemplate how to properly celebrate this year’s graduates, COVID-19 Health Mandate 011 - Social Distancing is still in effect, which prohibits gathering for events, such as graduation.

This mandate supersedes COVID-19 Health Mandate 008.

This will be posted on the WPSD web site and an email message will go out to all on our email mailing list.

Why this amount of time?

Impact on disease

* Allows time for further understanding of the local COVID-19 situation (e.g., community spread)

*Increases social distancing amongst the immediate school community

*Gives time for potentially exposed individuals to develop symptoms while not in school

Impact on families

*Children may be less impacted by social isolation from their peers for shorter time frames

Impact on school

*Schools are better prepared for short term closures because they’ve been more likely to have experienced those (e.g., for weather)

*Given current timing, some schools may be able to take advantage of spring break closures

* Provides protection for older staff and students and staff with underlying medical conditions

The school playground and rec areas will be closed

As the pandemic progresses, assessments will be made on a regular basis and decisions made accordingly. Thank you for your patience in waiting for this formal announcement.

Information about Corona Virus 2019 (COVID-19)

Wrangell Public School Board Policy 6114.4 in regard to Pandemic/Epidemic Emergencies can be found here POLICY

Alaska DHSS COVID-19 Updates for Providers

Alaska DHSS sent this bulletin at 03/05/2020 09:30 AM AKST

COVID-19 Update for Alaska’s Health Care Providers

Updated March 5, 2020

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services is closely monitoring and responding to the rapidly evolving Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation. We want to make sure you have the latest information. Here are key updates for Alaska’s health care providers.

NO cases of COVID-19 have been identified in Alaska.

NEW: The Section of Epidemiology issued an Alaska Public Health Alert Network (PHAN) on Wednesday, March 4, alerting health care providers in Alaska about new CDC guidance (March 4) that expanded testing criteria to a wider group of symptomatic patients. The Alaska PHAN also provides important details for health care providers about our current in-state testing capacity. Please read this PHAN if you haven’t already and subscribe to AK PHAN alerts by clicking here.

The DHSS Section of Epidemiology is continuing to host COVID-19 Situational Awareness calls for health care providers on a regular basis. To participate in those calls, email DHSSEOC@alaska.gov

To learn more about recent testing available at Alaska Public Health Laboratories, read this DHSS press release from Feb. 28.

Health care providers should contactSOE at 907-269-8000, or 800-478-0084 after-hours, to report Persons Under Investigation (PUI) and to obtain approval to test patients for COVID-19 at the State Public Health Laboratory.

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Announcements

Wrangell Public School Board will hold a Special School Board Meeting on Monday, June 8 beginning at 6:30 PM via Google Meets. The purpose of this meeting is to go into executive session to conduct the Superintendent's Summative Evaluation. There will not be an opportunity for public comment at this meeting, however written input can be provided by emailing kpowell@wpsd.us prior to the meeting.

4 Day School Week

EES would appreciate your input on the concept of a 4 Day School Week with 5th day options. We are researching ways other Districts are increasing attendance, offering more enrichment and intervention opportunities, and in turn raising student achievement. Please read over the research, and think about how it would work for your family. We would really like a lot of discussion on this. More important than the survey questions, are your comments, and please, also leave us your questions.